ASHLAND — Ashland University’s WRDL college radio station will take part in the 4th annual Vinylthon on Saturday, April 13. Just like years past, various hosts and personalities will take turns spinning tracks exclusively from vinyl records.
Beginning at midnight Saturday morning, everyone who tunes into 88.9 WRDL will hear the crack of needle meeting vinyl. A plethora of hosts will play songs they’ve pulled from their vault of recognizable albums spanning decades of history. All of this will last a total of 24 hours.
This isn’t the first time 88.9 WRDL has participated in Vinylthon. This is their third year of participation.
“In the past two years, we’ve been a Golden Slipmat Award Winner, which is awarded to stations that go 24 hours,” said Derek Wood, General Manager of 88.9 WRDL. “The first year we were only one of 12 stations to do so.”
Wood spoke of how participating in Vinylthon brings an opportunity to play music that isn’t normally heard on their college radio station.
“Vinylthon is a unique day for us because it’s a day where we get to celebrate the unique medium of college radio,” Wood said. “We’re not bound by anybody with deep pockets.
“Nobody really gets to dictate what we air and at what time.”
There’s plenty of work that goes into preparing for Vinylthon.
Glenn Rausch, Program Director at 88.9 WRDL, is in charge of overseeing and ensuring that the day runs smoothly.
“There’s a lot of making sure we are not going to violate any of our licensing agreements,” Rausch stated. “We have to be sure we know who’s coming in, what their bringing in and what each show is bringing to the table.”
“We want to make sure everyone gets the chance to be unique and be in the spotlight.”
Avid listeners of 88.9 WRDL will recognize many voices in their speakers, including those of current and returning hosts from WRDL’s past.
“We’ve got some incoming students, some current students, some alumni, some faculty members, some staff members,” said Wood. “We’ve got a unique unit of characters and personalities that are going to contribute.”
Vinylthon is celebrated on the 13th of April, which is also recognized as Record Store Day.
